Is THIS Physical Theatre? In conversation with Dawn Arnold and Roanna Mitchell

Co-hosted by the Chekhov Collective and the University of Kent, this free ‘in conversation’ event explores Dawn Arnold’s work against the background of questions such as: What is the relationship between physical theatre-making and the art of the actor? Why do we find Chekhov’s technique in physical theatre classrooms, when he is largely absent from physical theatre’s canonical texts? What are the issues of collaboration and ownership in making physical theatre?

Dawn Arnold is an actress, director, teaching artist, and acting coach based in Chicago, USA. She is the founder and Artistic Director of the Moving Dock Theatre Company and Chekhov Studio Chicago.

With Moving Dock Theatre she has directed/devised Galway Bay, Savage/
Love, Celestial Mechanics- or the Questionable Attraction of Entities, Einstein’s Dreams, Ocean Sea, The Quiltmaker’s Gift, The Anton Chekhov Book Club, The Anton Chekhov Book Club Returns, Voices from the Dark, Unsung Stars, and her solo show, The Lydia Etudes – About Loving Anton Chekhov.

She has worked with Vitalist Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, and Chicago’s House Theatre and coaches actors working for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Lookingglass Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Court Theatre among others, and opera singers at Lyric Opera Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center.

Dawn is a teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique, trained by the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). She appears in the MICHA’s
documentary, Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique. She has been on the faculty of Roosevelt University’s Theatre Conservatory, Music Institute of Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and The Theatre School at DePaul. She is now on the faculty of the Michael Chekhov Association, Chekhov Studio Chicago, and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center and has taught with Michael Chekhov Acting Studio New York City, Michael Chekhov Europe, and Michael Chekhov Studio Tokyo.

Roanna Mitchell is a Co-Director of The Chekhov Collective.  She is a lecturer, performance-maker and movement person, and course leader of the MA Physical Acting at the University of Kent. Her work explores performance in the intersection between acting and dance, and the ‘third space’ between theatre and therapy. In connection with the latter, she is the lead on the participatory project ‘Inappropriate’ Anger which interrogates the consequences of BPD diagnosis, and designer of MACRO Map, a reflective tool to draw connections between creative work and other life areas. She has directed/created/movement-directed performance internationally, often working site-responsively and including collaborations with Richard Schechner (Imagining O, UK/US/India), Platform 7 (Resting Place, Ramsgate /Charing Cross Station / Folkestone seafront) and Accidental Collective (Here’s Hoping, Theatre Royal Margate / Oval House London). Roanna is a member of Michael Chekhov UK and MC Europe, and Associate Editor for the Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal.